Project
Retail
Cultural
Restaurants and Bar
Cafe and Bakery
Other
Status: built, 2025
Area: 472 sqm
Client: Zeeco
Location: ShenYang
Photography: Topia Vision
The original space featured a double-height volume with a generous scale. We introduced a partial mezzanine while keeping the ground-floor retail area fully open. The recessed second floor creates a sense of vertical continuity and preserves maximum visual openness.
Bread is more than a product—it should feel present and visible in the space. From the entrance, one can see the full process of display and preparation, as well as the upstairs seating, lighting, and activity. The result is an open and transparent theatre. The street-facing façade is composed in two parts: a solid stone wall that anchors the entrance, and a fully openable folding door system that connects the interior with an outdoor café area.
The exterior features a beige brick with a subtly uneven texture, paired with warm wood tones and soft lighting to create a gentle, restrained visual language—echoing the brand's philosophy of rustic refinement.
We aimed for maximum openness on the ground floor. When the folding glass doors are open, the aroma of bread, the light from the street, and people enjoying coffee flow seamlessly together. The space is designed to grow organically with atmosphere, rather than be defined strictly by function.
The central bread counter on the ground floor remains fully open to the double height, surrounded by a mix of public and semi-private seating. Circulation flows naturally between the retail and dining areas, creating a dynamic interplay of seeing and being seen.
We designed the second floor as a space for lingering. In contrast to the fluidity of the ground level, this area invites a slower pace. Seating is loosely arranged among bookshelves, ceramics, trolleys, and greenery, elements that create a relaxed atmosphere suited for reading, small gatherings, dates, or informal meetings. The space is framed by elements like solid wood, clay jars, flour sacks, and shelves, creating a sense of simplicity and ease. These scenes are neither purely functional nor decorative. They feel like everyday fragments evoked by the scent of bread. This reflects our approach: not to fill the space, but to leave room for imagination and daily life.
ZEECO is a node—an ongoing experiment in the everyday culture of bread. We hope it becomes more than a bakery, growing into part of the neighborhood's rhythm—a place to stumble upon, to linger in, to open up. Like fermentation, it's a slow unfolding of flavor.
About
Founded by Kaiwen Zhao, Baicai is shaped by his interdisciplinary background in design and architecture. Zhao studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Architecture at the Yale School of Architecture. He currently teaches in the Department of Industrial Design at RISD, and has previously taught at the University of Colorado Denver, lectured at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and served as a guest critic at Syracuse University.
Baicai approaches space beyond the conventional boundaries of interior design, bringing together architectural and product design thinking to address spatial questions. Through different scales of intervention, we explore the relationships between space, objects, and human behavior.
2026
Paris Design Awards Winner
2026
MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner
2026
Dezeen China Rising Firm of the Year
2025
POSITION Award China Best 100 Young Architect
2024
Guangzhou Design Week 40 Under 40
2024
AD China 100 YOUNG
2022-2024
Architizer Best Young Interior Design Firm Special Mention
2024
Forbes China 30 Under 30
2023
FRAME Small Residential of the year Shortlisted
2023
FRAME Award Best Emerging Designer Nominee
2023
APIDA Design Award Excellence Award
2023
FRAME Pop-up Store of the Year
2022
FRAME Window Display of the Year Shortlisted
2022
WYDF TOP 100 Designer
2022
Dezeen Award Shortlisted
2022
Architecture Masterprize Best of The Bests
2022
AD China 100 YOUNG
2020-2022
Architecture Masterprize Honorable Mention
2022
KUKAN Design Award Shortlisted
2022
DNA Award Winner in Workplace Design
2022
DNA Award Honorable Mention in Workplace Design
2022
DNA Award Honorable Mention in Showroom Design
2022
K-Design Award Winner
2022
Novum Design Award Gold Award
2022
Novum Design Award Silver Award
2022
IDA Design Award Honorable Mention
2022
FRAME Best of the Month
2022 April
Design for Asia Award Bronx Award
2021
Design for Asia Award Excellence Award
2021
IDEA Design Award Finalist
2021
Golden Pin Design Award Winner
2021
Golden Pin Design Award Honorable Mention
2022
by Tincidunt Nisl
2024
Ullamcorper Faucibus (Congue) Euismod, by Ligula Parturient, Bibendum Review Porta Libero
2023
Dictumst Tristique, Facilisis Magazine, Edition Two, Porta Libero
2021
Auctor Adipiscing Art Magazine, Porta Libero
2020
Sollicitudin Ornare Magazine,
Porta Libero
2020
by Tincidunt Nisl
2024
Ullamcorper Faucibus (Congue) Euismod, by Ligula Parturient, Bibendum Review Porta Libero
2023
Dictumst Tristique, Facilisis Magazine, Edition Two, Porta Libero
2021
Auctor Adipiscing Art Magazine, Porta Libero
2020
Sollicitudin Ornare Magazine,
Porta Libero
2020